India’s federal investigation agency has registered a case against the country’s two top telecom companies and a former Telecom Secretary for alleged irregularities in the allocation of spectrum during 2001 to 2003 when the late Pramoj Mahajan was telecom minister.
The Central Bureau of Investigation also carried out raids at the offices of Vodafone in Mumbai and Airtel in Gurgaon and residences of former Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh and several other officials.
According to the Press Trust of India, “Ghosh has been charged with conspiracy, criminal misconduct and abusing official position. The CBI alleges that during Pramod Mahajan’s tenure, Ghosh and some other officials gave additional spectrum at low revenue share to companies like Vodafone and Bharti Airtel.”
The raids comes after the Supreme Court of India ordered a probe into the allocation of spectrum between 2001 and 2007. Earlier, the CBI filed a case against another former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran for his alleged role in the Aircel-Maxis deal during his tenure.
“CBI has registered a Case, U/s 120-B of the Indian Penal Code r/w Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against the then Chairman (Telecom Commission) & Secretary (Telecom), Department of Telecommunications, the then DDG (VAS)/DoT, three private cellular companies based at New Delhi & Mumbai, and others for alleged irregularities in the grant of additional 2G Spectrum and causing a loss of $99 million (approx) during the period 2001-2007. The then Minister for Telecom & Communication has been excluded since he expired,” the investigation agency said in a statement.
Both Airtel and Vodafone denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement, Airtel said: “We would like to categorically state that all the spectrum allotted to us from time to time has been strictly as per the stated government policy. We are providing all details and correspondence to the authorities and shall provide complete support as needed in the matter.”
“All our documents are in complete compliance with the governing laws and regulations,” Vodafone India said in a statement.
